Alexander J. Cartwright
Alexander J. Cartwright (April 17, 1820 - July 12, 1892) was an American engineer who has as good a claim as any as the inventor of baseball. Cartwright was a member of the New York Knickerbockers, who played a brand of stick-and-ball game called the town game. In 1845 Cartwright and a committee from his club drew up rules converting this playground game into more elaborate and interesting sport to be played by adults.
The Knickerbockers participated in the first game under these rules on
June 19, 1846. The Knickerbockers lost 23-1.
Cartwright left New York to mine gold in California in 1849. He fell ill and settled in Hawai'i. A citizen of Hawai'i, Cartwright became a successful Honolulu businessman. There, Cartwright established the first baseball league composed of teams he created from throughout the Hawaiian islands. His Hawaiian leagues became a model for the modern American and National Leagues of today. In 1938, Cartwright was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
The "Knickerbocker Rules"
While there are many differences between the modern rules of baseball and the so-called Knickerbocker Rules (as adopted September, 23, 1845 by the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club), there are also many similarities.
Similarities between the Knickerbocker rules and the rules of today include:
- there are four bases laid out in a diamond.
- the bases are approximately 90 feet apart.
- balls hit outside of first or 3rd base are foul.
- there are three outs per "hand" (inning).
- teams play an equal number of hands.
- three strikes are an out.
- a "striker" (batter) may run if the catcher fails to catch the third strike.
- runners may put out by being tagged or forced.
- a runner cannot be put out by "soaking" (hitting them with a thrown ball).
- throwing at a runner is prohibited.
Differences between the Knickerbocker rules and the rules of today include:
- the game continues until one team scores 21 "aces" (runs), (but only ends after an equal number of hands (innings) have been played.)
- the ball must be pitched underhand.
- a "striker" (batter) is out if the ball is caught on one bounce.
- there are no called strikes.
Major changes to the Knickerbocker rules:
- 1857 - the nine inning game is introduced.
- 1858 - called strikes are introduced.
- 1864 - a batter is no longer out if a struck ball is caught on one bounce.
See also
